


Candyman

by KuronekoHikage



Category: Bleach
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 10:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4957390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuronekoHikage/pseuds/KuronekoHikage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Ichigo sees him every day... but who is he? He finally gets the chance to find out! Written for the 2007 End of School Challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candyman

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, written for the June 2007 End of School Challenge. I don't remember who won, but I know it wasn't me. XD -Bows- Anyway, please tell me what you think!

The city of Karakura was a metropolitan marvel, towering architectural constructs connected by monorails, subways, and regular bus transits. Buildings fit neatly together and the shape of the city's skyline gave it a futuristic feel. Truly, the city's engineers were very prideful of their work, as Karakura has always been considered a city that was the first to move forward and set an example for the rest of the world. But even in the future, one as young as seventeen was considered a juvenile and had to attend school.

Ichigo Kurosaki turned seventeen this passed summer with one more year of high school to complete. He had good grades, ranked within the top 25 students in the entire grade, but they weren't good enough to skip any levels. Currently, he lived above a small clinic owned by his father on the outskirts of the city, in a cookie-cutter suburb on the south side, and although the worst cases of emergencies get sent to the district's hospital, the Kurosaki Clinic was still very well-equipped to handle the overflow of medical responses in the thirteenth division. Otherwise, the were a simple clinic that dealt with family and senior affairs.

Ichigo attended South Karakura High in the Tenth District, and after a couple of years figured out a system of transit to follow, both ways. Every morning, he biked to the Sogyo no Kotowari Station and locked it up at the numerous racks just outside. The he would descend the stairs just in time to catch the seven-fifteen subway. It was packed and it took about half an hour, but he usually kept himself occupied with his IPod plugging his ears and a manga in his hands. Money for the trip was never a worry as his father bought him a yearly student pass every fall, something he knew he would have to eventually pay for himself once he got a job and moved out of home.

If they made good time from the other stations, it allotted for a five-minute window of free time when he arrived at the Hyorinmaru Station in the Tenth District. He would get there between seven-forty and seven-forty-five, which gave him plenty of time to walk to school. However, getting through a day of boring classes was pretty simplistic and not worth mentioning. His natural hair color and style attracted enough attention, so he held himself back by achieving average grades and only choosing a small group of friends to hang out with. Only his childhood friend, Tatsuki, who went to the same school, knew how smart he could get.

The motivational speeches that teachers give at the beginning of the school year about 'expanding your horizon, find what you want to do in life, and always give every task your best' were buzzing around his head but never going. He was pretty sure he could get a decent job and work his way swiftly up the ranks in no time.

Compared to the dull ride to and a day of school, the ride home was completely different. There were days when the ride home was the only reason he went to school in the first place.

Ichigo got out of school fifteen minutes before the next subway left for his district, and although it was the time most schools let out, it wasn't too crowded by the time it reached the station's platform. But occasionally, people would start doubling up in their seats. He was usually able to snag a window seat, leaving the seat next to him open for anyone to take. Usually, people tended to let him sit alone; his friends joked that his constant scowl helped with that, but when the final warning announcement sounded before their departure, that's when he would appear.

Shiro-chan is the nickname he'd silently taken to calling him inside his head, for just the fact that he had white hair, and he was too chicken to ask his real name. The kid often dressed nicely, if a bit punk-ish. An example that Ichigo couldn't help but drool over would be an outfit he wore last week; dark-wash jeans, a sleeveless, ice-blue hoodie unzipped halfway down his chest to show a white tank underneath, dog tags dangling from a chain around his neck, and a partial view of the Division Ten gang tattoo on his chest, which Ichigo knew to be a dragon entangled with daffodils.

People in general always drew Ichigo's attention, their lives always piqued his curiosity. He wanted to get to know them, to understand; the way they dressed, the way they acted, their mannerisms and idiosyncrasies. He presumed that it was a trait passed on to him from his mother. His parents' marriage sort of balanced out with his father getting to know his patients through anatomy, biology, and physical healing, while his mother dug deeper into her patients' minds and helping them heal mentally.

Ichigo knew where his interest with Shiro-chan lay, and it was by no means anything innocent. First and foremost; he wanted to know about that tattoo and it's history. He got the feeling he wasn't as young as he looked. He barely looked young enough to be starting his first year of middle school, or maybe his last year of primary. Did he have any friends other than those gang members? What did his parents think of the tattoo and his current lifestyle? Did he even have parents and were they still alive? Secondly; where does he go? Ichigo rode the subway every day for all three years of high school, there were no schools at all in the eleventh district and no middle schools in the tenth. Ichigo had first seen him a year ago, but never in the hallways, so he doubted he went to South Karakura High. He would be noticed as easily as Ichigo for his hair and teal eye color. For the better or for the worse, Ichigo wasn't quite sure, as he had experienced both.

Third, but definitely not in the least bit unimportant; every time Ichigo saw him, he would be sucking on some sort of hard-candied confection, which was skewered with a stick that hung out of his mouth. The orange-top normally wouldn't describe a lollipop so elaborately, but the kid was always sitting close enough to him that Ichigo could see his tongue dance around it.

At first, Ichigo had dismissed it as random selection when Shiro sat next to him; there was barely any room left over per departure time, and there weren't many people there that really cared about their personal hygiene, either. He began to pay more attention him over the coarse of the year, picking up little quirks and learning what he was like. Shiro-chan had candy of all colors, but Ichigo prided himself when found a pattern to them. He preferred the blues and greens when he was amused or happy, peaches and pinks when he was in stoic or neutral moods, and reds or purples when he was very angry.

It bugged Ichigo to hell and back.

Walking into the clinic's living room, he picked up a conveniently placed lion plushie from the floor and threw it against the opposite wall, watching it with satisfaction as it squeaked and slid downwards, wedging its contorted body between a karate trophy and photo of his mother. He couldn't bring himself to care that Yuzu might think of him as a stuffed animal abuser, he had other problems on his mind. The bus kid had never said a single word to him, not once in the entire year he'd seen him, and since this had been his last year of high school. His chances of getting to know him were slipping away at incredible speeds...

...Which found him sighing and flopping tiredly onto the couch. He thought about the teen angst(overrated as it was) plaguing him and, perhaps, a bit of respect was due to the normal people who usually went through this sort of shit.

Today had been his last day of school and the graduation ceremony was supposed to be held tomorrow. He doubted he'd be seeing Shiro anymore, unless they randomly crossed paths at the stations. Shiro didn't seem to have much interest in him. If he did, then he would have paid him more attention, perhaps even talked to him. But Ichigo could only tell what his own feelings were, not Toshiro's, and it was going to be hard for him to accept that he was never going to find out.

Ichigo stood up, grabbing his stuff and making his way to his room, nodding to Yuzu in the upstairs hallway where she was vacuuming. He had to change for later tonight. Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, Ishida, Rukia, and himself were going out to celebrate their release from teachers, homework and tests. The arcade was their meeting place, then on to mini-golf and dinner. Tatsuki also mentioned a fair opening up that night.

He changed into a dark red wife-beater with a black skull, black jeans and tennis shoes. He also wrapped several black cord-like bracelets around one wrist, and a choker on his neck. Shiro was a punk, but Ichigo's look was a bit of a Gothic rock star. His friends once accused him of being one in disguise, an old joke that got lame real quick, but he always was able to ignore. When he made his way towards the bathroom to fix his hair and face, he could hear Yuzu worry about the lion plushie that ended up on the high shelf.

"Oh, Kon! How did you get way up there?! Was Ichi-nii being mean to you?"

Of course she would single him out first, it was the truth most of the time. Stifling a chuckle, he pulled out his make-up kit. Eyeliner, mascara, and a bit of foundation was all he would ever permit on his face, everything else was classified as girl territory. If anyone ever tried to put blush and lipstick on him, their death would not be pretty. One of his classmates had almost suffered this fate when he first started school.

After fixing his hair into a styled mess of spikes he put his stuff away and made his way down the stairs, eager to get on with the night and forget about the heartache he was suffering from. Nodding to where Yuzu was cuddling her freaky lion plush, Ichigo grabbed a black jacket and his keys.

"Oniisan! You aren't going out again, are you?" She rushed over and gave his sleeve a tug. "I'm making dinner tonight."

Ichigo smiled, settling a hand atop her head. "You cook dinner every night, Yuzu, whether I'm here or not." He gave her head a pat. "Don't worry about me. My friends want to spend some time with me."

"But you do that at school!"

He laughed. "We won't be able to do that anymore. We've applied to different colleges, so there's no guarantee when we'll be able to see each other after tonight." Yuzu's depression didn't waver, and he knelt before her. "How about I help you make lunch tomorrow before my graduation ceremony?" he offered. "You can be the master chef and order me around. I will be your slave." He acted out that last sentence with a humble bow, causing her to giggle.

"It's a deal."

He opened his arms and she hugged him with a smile, nuzzling his chest. "Make sure Karin and Dad don't fight too much tonight," he warned. She nodded, letting him stand up. "Good." He gave her hair one last tousle before he finally exited the clinic.

Ichigo sat on the bench just inside the station's gates, waiting for the next monorail's arrival in about half an hour's time. He called his friends to let them know he would be meeting them at Chad's place in the eighth district as planned, but he'd be a little late since the schedules were a bit sparser at night than they were during the day.

He spent roughly ten minutes discussing the group's activities for tonight, everyone throwing in relatively good ideas. Inoue said her cousins wanted to come along, and since no one else objected, neither did he. The gang was thinking about starting at the shops near the parking lot and working their way down the dock toward the fair. Knowing the girls, they'd probably want to check all of the stores for some new summer clothes. Ichigo wasn't obsessively paranoid about his appearance, but he liked to make sure he didn't look like a slob when he was in public.

A combination of random songs on his iPod and slurping a blue-raspberry slushie purchased from a vendor helped pass time. When the train pulled in, Ichigo got up, tossed his cup into the trash, and walked inside. A few people dotted the area, but it wasn't full yet, so he opted for taking a seat in one of the empty middle sections.

He pulled up a game of Tetris to occupy his attention as they pushed off, until a warm body decided to plop next to his.

Pausing his game in annoyance, because it was kind of rude to invade someone's personal space when hardly any seats were taken, Ichigo almost had to do a double-take. White hair, teal eyes, a baby-face he thought he'd never see again, and a body he thought he'd never be able to drool over again. Inwardly, he started to freak out, a chibi-sized strawberry was running and flailing, wondering what to do.

Composing himself and slapping the cartoon in his head into submission, he brushed off this run-in as a coincidence. Now that their encounters were going to be more random, he felt like he should say something to him, but nothing would come to mind. They were usually asocial to each other, but did that mean they were strangers? He felt like he knew nothing and everything about him. Except for his name, he didn't really know that, but the shorter kid might get offended and ask why he wanted it. What if the people around them thought he was a pedophile? What if Shiro-chan thought he was a pedophile?

Tired from thinking like this so much, and almost to the point of physically deflating in a slump of depression, Ichigo forcefully dragged his attention back to Tetris. It was hard to concentrate, though, when the object of wet, naughty, and arousing thoughts was sitting next to him. The boy was wearing black, grey, and white army-print cargos that seemed to fit the bottom half of his physique very well, and a t-shirt that said "I'm better than yours."

It took Ichigo a minute to remember that it was a lyric, but he couldn't remember the name of the song or the artist. If he went by what the t-shirt said, he was either a pervert, or Ichigo was a pervert by assumption.

The candy he was sucking on was spherical in shape and red in color, but he didn't have a scowl on his face so he must have just been annoyed at something. Curfew? School? Girlfriend? Girlfriend! No way, unless Shiro-chan told him directly, he was going to be in permanent denial! But how was he going to coax that info out of him?

After defeating countless levels over a countless period of time, Ichigo closed his phone and tucked it into a pocket. He still had his iPod blaring in his ears, and since his neighbor was either annoyed or slightly unhappy, Ichigo decided to try to talk casually with him. He pressed his feet firmly to the floor in order to iron out any shaking and rested his hands on his thighs. Turning to Shiro-chan to start a hopeful conversation, he was surprised as his brown irides connected with an icy set looking back at him.

With a raised eyebrow of amusement. No other feature on his face gave away the fact that he was amused, but Ichigo could somehow tell. What did he find so funny? As if this hadn't been hard enough, Ichigo put on a smile.

"Hi."

Not a bad start, but not impressive, he watched as Shiro-chan nodded in response, not saying anything back. He failed in his attempt to get him to speak, so he tried again.

"I'm Ichigo. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand. Shiro-chan took it in his own, mouth still wrapped tightly around that sucker. He didn't ask for Shiro's real name, nor did he offer it to the taller teen, and the orange-haired graduate got the impression that he either didn't want to, or he was waiting for Ichigo to as a proper question. When he opened his mouth to ask his name in return, one of Shiro's fingers flew up to silence him. He froze, his entire body tensing with Shiro's index finger on his lips. Granted it was just his finger, but it was skin all the same, Shiro's skin. He resisted the urge to lick and suck it like an imitated lollipop.

"Later."

The mysterious boy gave him a smirk as he let his lips go and silently returned his attention back to his candy. Ichigo didn't know whether to scream, swear, cry, or jump him and it was giving him a headache. What did he mean by 'later'? Trying his best not to worry about it and appear nonchalant, he reached for his phone again, hoping to busy himself with another game or ten to keep busy.

It took as many as seven, but at least his temples were no longer pounding and he could breathe easier, it was good timing as Station Eight, Katen Kyokotsu, came into view. Shiro had finished his sucker and gotten another, a green one this time. Ichigo wanted to believe that the change into a happier color was because of his presence, but he quickly shot that down before he became too hopeful. To assume things like that was juvenile and egotistical, but while he admitted to being a confident youngster, he wasn't that bad.

The car eventually ground to a halt and opened it's doors, letting everyone out safely onto the platform. Ichigo stood to leave and was surprised when Shiro copied his movements. Did Toshiro live in this district?

Filing out, he watched Shiro leisurely stalk off into a random direction before shrugging to himself, flipping his phone open and calling Chad. Seeing Shiro had made him happy, but now he was seriously depressed again. He could feel curiosity welling up inside; who is he, why did he silence him, what's up with his cryptic vocabulary? It was the first time Ichigo heard his voice, and the tone was low, smooth, and sent chilly tingles of excitement up his arms and legs.

Ichigo was only halfway paying attention to Chad as they spoke about the girls, what they wanted to do, Orihime's cousins, and dinner plans. The other half was concentrated on getting out of the congested walkways of the station halls, and a slightly smaller part of his brain was wondering where Shiro might have gone. It felt strong enough to seriously consider turning around and following him, but he wasn't the type of person to ditch his friends like that.

Chad's monotonous voice drifted through his ear, circled around in his head long enough for him to grab bits and pieces of information, then left out the other. Two of Orihime's cousins were coming, thrift stores, the Uruhara Deli, and something about the shuttle bus being broken and taking the tram. He nodded through all of this, verbally acknowledging him when needed.

Chad kept him on the phone the length of time if took him to get out of the station, which was about fifteen minutes, and he said his goodbyes. "I'll see you in a bit, Chad. I just got out." He climbed the stairs to the upper street. "I'll see you in five." With the other's affirmed voice, he hung up. He walked over to a bus, finding that it did, indeed, go by where he needed, and hopped on. He sat near the front this time, so he would easily pinpoint when his stop would be coming up. On foot, it was probably half an hour's walk, but by bus it should only take about five-to-seven minutes. The huge time save would have Orihime ecstatically jump around and hug him for not being lazy about punctuality, even though she was a bit of a hypocrite considering the number of times she took the "scenic route" to school.

After the last person boarded, the bus doors closed and they were off, but as soon as they were, Ichigo's personal space was invaded yet again by the same person! Ichigo could not count it as another coincidence this time, fate would be too cruel to let this be a pure, unfiltered, humorous fluke of luck. Maybe a stalker?

While Ichigo tried once more to stay calm, a random teenage girl -I've never seen her before in my life- walked up to Shiro and gave him an all-too-friendly smile.

"Hey there, Handsome."

A glare.

"My name is-"

"I don't care about your name, " Shiro said, wrapping an arm around Ichigo's waist. Not particularly liking the girl since she was hitting on his Shiro, he wrapped an arm around his shoulders in response, giving her a evil look.

She looked torn between mumbling apologies and glaring back at the two. She chose the former, but Ichigo could still see the later creeping in as she went back to her seat next to all of her friends.

Shiro's arm stayed in place, and Ichigo's vision was filled with sparkles. Unsure it he was going crazy, Ichigo settled back into his chair for the rest of the ride, unconsciously letting his hold tighten a little on the boy's shoulder and missing the smirk he got in return.

That girl was still leering around them when Ichigo's stop came up, and he felt really uneasy leaving Shiro to deal with her, he was relieved when Shiro stood up with him and they both got off the bus. To total strangers, they looked like a normal couple as Ichigo kept his arm around his shoulders, and he didn't let go until the bus drove out of sight.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that, you didn't have to get off, as well. Where is it you need to go?"

Shiro took his tanned hand from behind his white locks and clasped it with his own. "No, this is the way I need to go."

"Huh?"

Was he a neighbor of Chad's? No way this guy would know his friends! He never told them about his crush, so there wasn't any need to hide if they knew him.

Ichigo could feel Shiro tugging his arm. "Just walk with me."

It seemed like forever, but they finally arrived at the Yasutora residence. A few quiet minutes with this guy and he felt so comfortable it's like he'd been around him for forever. He'd had been warned by his parents that it was the quiet ones that he had to watch out for, and Shiro was definitely the quiet type.

Arriving at the tall apartment building Shiro push the door's buzzer. Ichigo imagined the others were probably already there, but what were they going to say when he showed up with a guest of his own? Does that kid ever get hyper, Ichigo wondered as Shiro unwrapped another green sucker, but didn't have time to ask or answer it himself as Chad opened the door.

The Mexican towered over them, greeting them with a not and motioning them in as he stepped aside. When everyone was together, introductions were in order.

"Guys, these are my cousins, Rangiku-san and Toshiro-san." He could see the family resemblance in the girls; orange-red hair, and big boobs. He looked down at the smirking kid. So, his name is Toshiro. Looks like he won't have to stop using his nickname for him after all.

"Oi, Shiro-chan." Correction: Ichigo had to drop that nickname as fast as possible if he didn't want to end up with a bunch of bruises on his head.

The dock was a long boardwalk at the edge of the city, and once the loud, boisterous group got there, the girls huddled up and went into every shop they could see and dragged the boys along with them. Ichigo didn't mind, he was just fine staring at Toshiro half the time. There was a vague instance where his mediocre expertise in clothing were needed, but it didn't happen often.

"Ichigo," Inoue cried, "help me out?" He pointed to a purple tank top with a black butterfly and the word 'hell' under it. She squealed a thanks and ran off toward it.

When it came time to eat, they were torn between the Deli and a new pizzeria, and after a long debate they chose the latter, Ichigo being squished between the cousins when they grabbed the back booth. It wasn't as bad as he thought, he got a kick out of Rangiku's dirty humor. Over multiple pans of pizzas, he began to learn about the both of them, Toshiro being a Kendo captain and Rangiku in business management. She hoped to own her own alcohol company one day. Toshiro didn't look like he belonged in high school, let alone anything higher, so he was rightfully flabbergasted to learn they were starting their second year at the university.

Rangiku also mentioned Toshiro only being fifteen and a kid genius, he had finished his first year in record time. He liked candy, dragons, kendo, and he had a dislike for the general populace of the entire world. Ichigo had already figured that last one out when they were sitting in the bus.

"Toshiro, Rangiku... Where do you go to college?"

"University of Rukongai," Rangiku said happily. Everyone else went bug-eyed.

Rukia nodded. "I heard their entrance exam was tough, and that it was out in the boonies."

"Yeah... The only transport to and from there is in the Twelfth District."

Toshiro snorted. "And almost never runs on-time despite the rest of Karakura's punctuality."

As the rest of the group chattered, Ichigo chose to chew his pizza in silence as he thought about what he just said. He could probably enter into Rukongai. It would take up more energy that he really wanted to expend for a university, but Toshiro was there so it would be worth the extra effort. If he wanted any sort of chance at being with him, he knew he'd have to pass. His father told him that the way to man's heart is his stomach, but he never believed in that, and Toshiro was proof.

Yes, if it ended in a make-out session, arguing could very well turn Ichigo on, and he would escalate it into a battle of tongues, hands, and sex. Discreetly, he checked to make sure no blood was leaking out of his nose, it tended to drip when he fell into perverted thoughts for prolonged periods of time.

After dinner, they walked to the fair grounds. Since everyone wanted to do their own thing, they split up into smaller groups after they purchased their tickets. If the group needed reassemble, all they had to do was text or call. Most of his friends went for the roller coasters, but Ichigo was still digesting food and had no want to throw it up. Orihime and Rukia disagreed and told him it wasn't really a good ride unless someone vomited.

He sat on the bench for a moment, looking around wondering what to do. There were three roller coasters, five gaming booths, a bumper cars ring, a haunted house, and several food and drink stands. Shrugging, he headed for his last option, the Ferris wheel.

Not too many people were in line, so he didn't have to wait long to get a seat. His hand was interrupted when he tried to pay the man two tickets. Looking to his right, Toshiro was seen doing it for him, handing the man four tickets for the both of them, then leading Ichigo toward their seat. They sat, letting the man put the bar down, and moving the wheel to accommodate another couple.

They stopped frequently and briefly, until they were at the top. Ichigo looked out over the district, admiring the view and then back to Toshiro. He had another sucker in his mouth, this time yellow. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that one. It could be a neutral, could be a happy. Shiro certainly looked happy.

A light bulb clicked in his head, and he smirked. He knew how to start that conversation, now, without being so awkward about it.

"Shiro-chan." He glared at him. The use of that nickname really bugged him for some reason, but Ichigo didn't care about that. He went on, putting his arm around his shoulders and shifting his body closer. "Why do you suck on lollipops so much?"

The boy was stunned for a moment, Ichigo saw it on his face as every muscle stilled, before it turned smug. "That is the right question."

He got his answer in an unexpected kiss, Toshiro's hand cupping his cheek, their lips pressed together. Ichigo could only return the sensations Shiro was filling him with. He tasted pineapple. And a few seconds later, they began to fall and rise, occupying one another reveling in their company for the better part of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review to let me know what you all think! This story was revised!


End file.
